Mercury Probe Mapping System

INTRODUCTION This is a Sources Sought notice. This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. The purpose of this notice is to obtain information regarding the availability and capability of qualified business sources. Your responses to the information requested will assist the Government in determining the appropriate acquisition method, including whether a set-aside is possible. NIST is seeking responses from all responsible sources, including large, foreign, and small businesses. Small businesses are defined under the associated NAICS code for this effort, 334516, as those domestic sources having 1000 employees or less. Please include your company's size classification and socio-economic status in any response to this notice. NOTE: This notice is strictly for obtaining Market Research. There will be no Question & Answer period under this Sources Sought Notice. BACKGROUND/PURPOSE The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) seeks information on commercial vendors that are capable of providing a mercury probe mapping system to support nanofabrication activities in the Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology (CNST), NIST's nanotechnology user facility. The mapping system shall be sited and used in the CNST NanoFab Class 100 clean room as a shared resource accessible to researchers from industry, academia, NIST, and other government agencies. The NIST CNST NanoFab presently operates a sheet resistance measurement tool based on the four-point probe technique. This tool does not have the capability of measuring resistances higher than 8x10^11 ohms. The need exists for a system that could measure the resistance of highly insulating films, such as silicon dioxide, which can exhibit resistances as high as 1x10^23 ohms. After results of this market research are obtained and analyzed and specifications are developed for the mercury probe mapping system that can meet NIST's minimum requirements, NIST may conduct a competitive procurement and subsequently award a Purchase Order. If at least two qualified small businesses are identified during this market research stage, then any competitive procurement that resulted would be conducted as a small business set-aside. SCOPE NIST is seeking contractors who have the capabilities to provide a Mercury Probe Mapping System meeting or exceeding the following specifications: 1. GENERAL DESCRIPTION: a. The mapping system shall be a bench-top unit. b. The system shall be equipped with a computer controlled motorized stage. c. The system shall measure single points as well as map an entire wafer at multiple points. d. The measurement shall be obtained via a small mercury contact with the sample. e. The wafer handling shall be manual, one wafer at a time, without cassette loader. f. The system shall be compatible with Class 100 (ISO 5) clean room environment 2. SUBSTRATE CAPABILITY: a. The system shall be capable of measuring wafers ranging from 1 cm x 1 cm square chips up to 200 mm in diameter. 3. MEASUREMENT CAPABILITY: The tool shall be able to measure the following: a. Current versus voltage b. Capacitance versus voltage c. Bias form: step up, step down, pulsed, ramp up, ramp down 4. FUNCTIONAL CAPABILITY: The tool shall be able to extract the following characteristics from the measurement data: a. Resistance and resistivity b. Breakdown voltage c. Charge density d. Carrier lifetime e. Interface traps distribution f. Charge at breakdown g. Leakage current h. Dielectric constant i. Pinhole density j. Flatband voltage k. K value of dielectric films 5. TYPICAL SPECIFICATIONS: a. Capacitance measurement range: 0 to 20 nF. b. Current measurement range: 50 fA to 1 mA c. Bias: -1000 V to +1000 V. d. Mercury contact area: 2 x 10^-5 cm^2 to 0.8 cm^2 6. SOFTWARE: a. Windows 7 required b. All data files must be exportable to Excel. c. The system shall be SECS-II compliant. d. The mapping patterns available shall include: i. Polar maps ii. Rectangular/Cartesian maps iii. User-defined patterns e. The plot displays available shall include: i. Contour maps ii. 3D maps iii. Data maps 7. ACCESSORIES: a. NIST traceable resistance standard 8. DELIVERY and INSTALLATION: The delivery and installation of the system in the CNST NanoFab clean room shall be completed in less than 3 months ARO. RESPONSE INFORMATION In order for a contractor to clearly convey their capability to fulfill the above-identified need, they MUST SUBMIT the following information. It is preferred that Capability Statements address each of the components in the order in which they are listed below. Please provide information regarding the following: 1. Companies that manufacture or can provide a mercury probe mapping system with the desired capabilities must submit a detailed capability statement, addressing all of the specifications discussed above, in an organized format (preferably in the same order as listed above) that allows for a direct correlation to the requested information. 2. Indication of number of days, after receipt of order that is typical for delivery of such systems. 3. Any other relevant information that is not listed above which the Government should consider in developing its minimum specifications and finalizing its market research. 4. The contractor must describe the length of its warranty and what is included in the warranty. The contractor needs to describe if they offer an extended warranty option and what it includes. 5. The contractor needs to specifically describe its maintenance and support strategy and warranty terms for any components or sub-systems, including those that are manufactured by a third-party contractor. If maintenance or support is needed, the contractor needs to discuss if various parts of the system will need to be shipped out or if a technician will travel to NIST. 6. The contractor shall indicate how long it would take to manufacture the system based on the specifications identified in this sources sought notice as well as indicate time frames for delivery. Each response shall include the following Business Information: 1. Name of the company that manufactures the system components for which specifications are provided. 2. Name of company(ies) that are authorized to sell the system components, their addresses, and a point of contact for the company (name, phone number, fax number and email address). 3. Name, title, telephone number, and e-mail addresses of individuals who can verify the demonstrated capabilities identified in the responses. 4. Business size for NAICS 334516 (1000 employees) and status, if qualified as an 8(a) firm (must be certified by SBA), Small Disadvantaged Business (must be certified by SBA), Woman-Owned Small Business, HUBZone firm (must be certified by SBA), and/or Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (must be listed in the VetBiz Contractor Information Pages). 5. DUNS number, CAGE Code, Tax Identification Number, and company structure (Corporation, LLC, partnership, joint venture, etc.). Companies also must be registered in the Central Contractor Registry (CCR, at www.ccr.gov) to be considered as potential sources. 6. Identification of the firm's GSA Schedule contract(s) by Schedule number and contract number and SINs that are applicable to this potential requirement are also requested. SUBMISSION INFORMATION Responses must be submitted no later than October 19th at 11:00AM, EST. Capability statements will not be returned and will not be accepted after the due date. GENERAL INFORMATION As previously stated, the Government will not entertain questions regarding this Market Research; however, general questions may be forwarded to the following: Contracts Specialist: January Magyar Email Address: January.Magyar@nist.gov Phone: 301-975-5442 Contracting Officer: Lynda Roark Email Address: Lynda.Roark@nist.gov Phone: 301-975-3725 "Disclaimer and Important Notes. This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organization's qualifications to perform the work. Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted. After a review of the responses received, a pre-solicitation synopsis and solicitation may be published in Federal Business Opportunities. However, responses to this notice will not be considered adequate responses to a solicitation. Confidentiality. No proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information should be included in your response. The Government reserves the right to use any non-proprietary technical information in any resultant solicitation(s)."